Help in the water; Humboldt surfers band together after attack

When a surfer at the North Jetty called out for help Tuesday after being attacked by a shark, his fellow surfers rushed to his aid.

While one tended to the 25-year-old man's wounds another drove him to a waiting ambulance. The surfer, whose name has not been released, underwent surgery Tuesday and was in fair condition.

David Hargrave, known in the local surfing community as "Big Wave Dave," said he was impressed with how quickly everyone responded. He said most people were already getting out of the water when the attack occurred at Bunkers surf spot near Humboldt Bay.

"It was pretty amazing how fast people were able to react," Hargrave said, adding he was too far away to be able to assist the victim. "He paddled in almost on his own power."

A man who identified himself as J.R. said he had just come to shore when the shark attack happened. He said the victim was lying on his board at the time of the attack, and that surfers around him rushed to help.

"He couldn't have asked for a quicker response," he said.

Surfers on the beach immediately loaded the victim into a truck driven by Blue Lake resident Jason Gabriel, and applied pressure on his wounds with a towel, J.R. said. He said the victim was bleeding and in shock, but it "seemed like he was coherent."

A man training to be an EMT also responded immediately to the victim's injuries, said Bill Lydgate, who has been surfing in the area for 25 years.

Gabriel said he'd just gotten out of the water himself after surfing and was headed home when he saw the victim. He said he drove as fast as he could to get the victim medical help. He said the victim had about four 12-inch long gashes from his ribs to below his hips.

"It was the most immediate recovery you could imagine," J.R. said, adding he was amazed by the damage the shark had done to the victim's surfboard. "It just bit it clean through."

"That guy (shark) was swimming around us for sure," he said.

J.R. said a friend of his "felt something swim underneath him," and decided to come out of the water not long before the attack happened.

Lydgate had been out surfing but was also on the beach at the time of the attack.

Once the victim made it to the beach, he said, the next pressing concern was bringing the approximately 20 surfers still in the water to shore. He said someone held up the victim's surfboard, with the huge bite chunk taken out of it, and whistled to signal the rest of the surfers to get out of the water.

"People flocked in," Lydgate said.

He was impressed by the immediate help and camaraderie of the local surfers.